Fairy tale afternoon tea at The Langham Hong Kong

Afternoon tea is becoming a bit of an obsession here at Sassy, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered that Palm Court at The Langham Hong Kong offers not just one afternoon tea set but two! I couldn’t decide which to get… so I ended up trying both the Sleeping Beautyand the Beauty and the Beast Tiffin Tea Sets! And of course, this was absolutely the right decision…

In my opinion, the essence of an afternoon tea is, of course, the tea. With over 300 bags of tea at home, I can’t hide the fact that I’m a bit of a tea addict, so it’s always refreshing to try a tea that’s just a little different from the rest. The Langham’s signature English Breakfast tea blend was just that – it had so many tones that I would be happy just sitting and sipping my tea for the rest of the tasting! Of course, I changed my mind as soon as the food arrived.

The Langham’s two afternoon teas come with a fairy tale twist (including pretty decorated crockery!) – the Sleeping Beauty set features handmade shortbread and mini cupcakes, whilst Beauty & The Beast is the cocoa-rich option for all you chocoholics! I’m actually not really a huge fan of chocolate or anything sweet (I’m the girl who buys chocolate just for the packaging) but the chocolate hazelnut and black sesame praline was simply a party in my mouth – literally! The black sesame kept popping in my mouth long after I was done chewing, an interesting but pleasant sensation.

My other favourite sweet was the amazing chocolate mango delight. It wasn’t too sweet, which was perfect for me. Out of all the yummy things on the top tier of my afternoon tea, it was a toss-up between that and some beautiful tiny chocolate macaroons. Seeing as how I just ate my way through two tea sets, their small size was a blessing in disguise!

These tea sets really are all about the spectacular desserts; to be honest, the savouries didn’t leave much of an impression but my pick of the bunch was the Maine lobster and smoked salmon purse – it sounds simple but sometimes the simplest things are the best! There was some cucumber mixed in with the lobster to give it just enough texture, and the light taste helped balance the other strong flavours in the sets. As for the scones… well, I have scones at pretty much every place that serves tea but The Langham’s may just be the best I’ve ever tasted! They were so light and fluffy (who thought that scones could be light?!) that not one crumb was left behind.

As I discovered, it’s all too easy to munch your way through two tiffin afternoon teas at The Langham – so make me feel a little less guilty and book yourself in to do the same!

P.S There is also a children’s tea set available. I almost wished I were a kid again so I could’ve eaten that as well!

The afternoon tea costs $218 for one person, $398 for two or $88 for children. It is served between 3-5.30pm on weekdays, and 2.15-4.15pm and 4.30-6.30pm on weekends and public holidays.